Off on our day's adventure. Once in a while the brakes were making strange noises, so we decided to stop at the Hertz office at a airport not far from us. When we got there the man was not concerned and said "Even if something is wrong I don't have any cars anyway. Jut drive on and if it gives you any trouble, ask at another Hertz later". So we drove on.
We headed in the direction of Rincon on the west coast. We stopped at a beach that looked interesting. There were two men surfing in waves that did not seem high enough to make surfing possible. One man was having no luck at all. Could only ride about 5 feet at a time. The other just got on the surf board and rode the almost nonexistent waves with ease. When they came to shore the one who was having problems said he was taking lessons from the other who was, or had been, a world champion surfer. This is a beach that is used for beginning surfers.
After leaving the beach, we went to a lighthouse park area. This was a very nice park, well laid out and maintained. We looked around and then headed south. We went shopping in Mayaguez for a few essentials, and then headed south east. We intended to look at historical San German then go to La Parguera Phosphorescent Bay. The road signs in San German were impossible for us. All three of us knew what the map showed and watched for every sign. Somehow we never found the roads that were on our map and thus never saw historical San German. We decided it was not worth it to try again by going back, even though we were within a couple miles.
Two people had recommended an hotel in La Parguera. We did find it after asking only a couple people. It was full and we were told there was no places to stay anywhere in the area. We went to the bay front anyway and found a nice room the first place we tried. We checked in and then took a walk to the central area. We bought tickets for the 9 P.M. boat ride into the bay. We ate dinner, looked around the area and then rested.
About 8:30 we easily found the pier and boarded the boat just before 9. The boat, that could hold maybe 25 people, really sped out through the darkness into the bay. After getting there a young man swimmer dove into the water and while he was swimming we could see the light coming from the water around him. We all also put our hands in the water and made it glow. We then sped back to the dock. we were in the boat about 35 minutes. The opinions were divided. I expected more glow, others said the glow was brighter than they expected. So take your choice on how good it was. There are also two other bays near Fajardo.
After the ride, we took in the festival that was going on. It was fun being there with all the happy people, families, teens, most were from Puerto Rico with a few tourists thrown in. All in all it was a very worthwhile day.
Today, on our way
east,
we plan to see a south coast beach and end up in Ponce. We took a
very nice
drive from La Parguera along
the ocean heading toward Guanica. We were in low mountains
driving
south to the beach area. A beautiful sight looking down over the
ocean.
We came to a state park
that
had a beach and decided to investigate. There was a $2.00
admission
fee and
plenty of parking.
These was a 2-300 yard walk to the beach area. The beach was in a
bay so we could easily
see the white sandy beach
curving
ahead of us. Even though it was before noon, there were
hundreds
of people there when we arrived. Since the beach stretched
so far, it was not very crowded.
There were many changing
areas
and shelters. Grills were going everywhere with all kinds of food
being
cooked. Suddenly we were
hungry smelling all the food. Alas, no one invited us to
lunch
even though we were
drooling. This park
seemed
to be a retreat for the Puerto Rican residents to enjoy.
This
was definitely a family
park with adults and children
in fairly large groups picnicking, swimming and enjoying the day
together.
It
seemed like we were the only
ones there from mainland US.
We found a nice place where
we
could stay in the shade when we were not in the water. I dropped
my watch in
the sand near our spot without
noticing it. A teen age girl came up to me and said that she saw
me drop it. That was very nice of her. Off to the
beach!!
Yes, it is true. The south coast beaches are different from the
ones
we
had been to on the north
coast,
This beach was sand, sand, sand. Every north coast beach we had
been
to tended to be rocky underfoot and it was difficult to walk into the
water.
We all spent quite a bit of time in the water, it was delightful
to say the least. This is a natural place for family and friends
to gather for a weekend outing
Please click on a picture
to
see a large view
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Last revised: 12 July 2002